NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

"The coagulant injection is complete, and the surgery is finished."

"Cough, vomit—!!!"

The moment Pepper said "Surgery complete," Phoenix immediately sat up, bowed his head, and vomited a mouthful of thick blood mixed with clotting agent onto the ground.

"Hu-hu-"

After vomiting blood, the man felt much better and took deep breaths. He soon realized that his lungs no longer produced the annoying foaming sound with every breath.

It seems the clotting agent has taken effect, and the effect is remarkable.

Meanwhile, Labi's voice was tirelessly repeating in the squad voice chat.

"Commander, we have lured Lecher to the crossroads, numbering between fifteen and twenty. Please respond."

"Commander, we have lured Leitcher to the crossroads, and their numbers are..."

“I heard you. Continue to retreat. Several flying Lechers will come from your left. Focus on eliminating them. Lorf and Merri are not allowed to act without my orders.”

Phoenix had just finished assigning tasks.

Immediately afterward, Anise's very dissatisfied grumbling came through the team voice chat.

"Commander, where did you go just now? Can you please stop disappearing all the time? It makes you look like a scumbag who runs away after he's done something and doesn't even stay overnight!"

"...Uh, well, I just had surgery."

"Oh, so you just had surgery. Lapi, the Commander said he just had surgery. I told you there was no need to rush. Pepper is one of the top doctors on the Ark, she can definitely handle this kind of thing."

Commander, don't you think I was right? After all, it's a minor matter like surgery, there's no need to tell us beforehand.

As long as the Commander isn't dead, he doesn't need to tell us if he gets injured!

After all, surgery is a minor matter! And it might involve the Commander's privacy, so it's normal that they didn't tell us beforehand!

See, I was right, Commander!

Phoenix: "..."

Chapter Twelve: Judgment Errors

Under Anis's relentless verbal onslaught, the commander wisely chose to apologize and promised to remember to report to her before disappearing in the future.

His sincerity was so great that even Anise herself was a little speechless.

The reason she said so much just now was not because she was really angry, but because she was dissatisfied with the commander's behavior of not asking them for help when he encountered difficulties.

If this man dares to have surgery behind their backs tonight, he'll dare to act alone tomorrow night without their knowledge. And if they encounter difficulties in the future, he might even dare to take advantage of them and let them go first, while he covers their retreat.

If he does all the work, then what's the point of having Niki?

Anis never expected that, after her restrained sarcastic remarks, the commander would actually apologize to her, and do so in the squad voice chat in front of everyone.

This really startled Anise. For a fraction of a second, she even suspected that this was the boss's final notice before he decided to make things difficult for her.

However, the girl quickly dismissed her dark and suspicious thoughts, and continued speaking with a relaxed expression while firing at Lecher:

"Hey! Commander, you said it yourself, that you have to tell me about any injuries in the future... Hmm, you can tell Lapi too."

"But before that, we have to survive tonight."

In the team voice chat, Phoenix's tone gradually returned to its original calm after the initial guilty conscience, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"There's a high probability that a Lord-level member will lead a group of this level of Lechers, so be careful."

"Understood, Commander."

……

"How's the injury?"

Inside the building, Phoenix stared intently at Pepper's face, while Pepper focused intently on the commander's right shoulder, her delicate eyebrows furrowed so tightly they were almost knotted together.

"commander……"

"The Lechers are almost here."

Someone with prior experience anticipated Pepper's long-winded speech and quickly said:

"Let's just say the conclusion."

Upon hearing the commander's words, Pepper immediately closed her mouth, which had just opened. After a few seconds of preparation, she calmly explained the extent of her injuries to the commander.

"There is a tear in the tendon connecting the humerus and pectoralis major muscle in the right arm, and a large area of ​​capillaries are ruptured. Some nerves in the right arm will die within eight to twelve hours, leading to paralysis of the right arm."

Commander... if his injuries worsen further, even if we return to the Ark, we'll have no choice but to undergo amputation.

"..."

Outside the window, the gunfire continued, and the already tense atmosphere became even more so as Pepper recounted her story.

Twelve hours?

Upon hearing this devastating number, Phoenix silently lowered his head and stared at the sniper rifle beside him, his expression unusually calm, his thoughts drifting far away.

Shug's erosion virus will definitely exceed the three-hour brainwashing treatment period, and according to the rules of the Ark, it must be destroyed.

Therefore, he had several plans in mind from the very beginning.

First, control Shug, then wander aimlessly on the ground until you encounter the "Pilgrims" organization that can remove the corruption.

Second, learn from the protagonist's behavior in the original game storyline: let Shug be corrupted, then return to the Ark to conceal the information, leaving everything to her and her own fate.

Third, kill Shug.

Of all the above options, the third one is undoubtedly the most rational and safest choice, no matter which perspective you look at it from.

Given Sugar's personality, Phoenix even felt that she could tell him the truth directly. After accepting reality, he would choose to sacrifice himself and not put everyone under moral pressure.

As for the other two options...

The person knew very well that these were actually two extremely poor, bottom-line solutions, akin to two sewers.

The reason is simple—because I am not the protagonist in the story.

The protagonist in the game's story can act recklessly, be willful, and say like a little kid, "I won't listen, I won't listen, I'm going to do it this way," but in the end, someone will still bail him out, or solve everything with his empty talk about ideals.

But I can't do it myself.

First, the Pilgrims organization has no reason to help him. Instead of wasting an extremely precious "antidote bullet" to save Niki, why not just shoot Niki in the head?

Cheap and convenient.

After all, the non-mass-produced Niki is just non-mass-produced, but that doesn't mean it can't be produced.

Secondly, if Sugar is allowed to leave, she is likely to become a "heretic" and eventually serve Lecher.

In the eyes of the central government and the CEOs of the three major companies, Phoenix's act of concealment was no different from betraying Ark, and being slapped in the face was inevitable.

So what should he do?

Should I really kill Shug, who risked his life to deliver supplies? Wouldn't that be negating everything I'd done tonight...?

Unable to find a solution that satisfied both sides, the man sighed wearily, then slowly closed his eyes and began to micromanage the battle situation under Pepper's blank gaze, as if she were watching a divine apparition.

"Lolf, take Merry to the restaurant on the left immediately. A Lecher will pass by the restaurant entrance."

Take it down, then get into the restaurant across the street as fast as you can, go out the back door, there are three Lechers in that side road, try to kill two of them, leave one to report, and then notify Lapi after you've dealt with them.

Take action now.

Lhapi, once you receive Lorf's message, immediately lead everyone north. With Lorf drawing fire, the pressure from the north won't be too great.

Once you have all gathered, Lhabi will report the situation to me; further action is pending.

After explaining the arrangements in one breath, Phoenix propped himself up on one hand, somewhat awkwardly, and nodded to Pepper.

"We should move to another place."

……

……

"Commander, if, I mean if possible, please fire with your left hand."

Following Phoenix, Pepper jogged to another tall building, clutching her sniper rifle, her tone almost pleading.

Based on her medical knowledge, if the commander continued to recklessly abuse his right shoulder as before, the problem of insufficient blood supply to the cells caused by ruptured blood vessels would definitely worsen. In that case, the entire right side of his body, including the right lung, would probably have to be replaced with a bionic mechanical device.

As for whether the Commander's body was original, Niki didn't really care, but the success rate of such a large-scale replacement of bionic machines was generally not very high. If it was 20%, it would be because the surgeon was highly skilled.

"I didn't intend to fire."

Seeing the short, pink-haired boy's aggrieved expression, Phoenix forced a smile and said:

“This time it’s your turn to fire the shot, Pepper.”

"Commander... are you kidding me?" Upon hearing that she was to be sniping, Pepper's eyes widened instantly, and she almost dropped the sniper rifle in her arms.